LGBTQ People’s Experiences of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment

Executive Summary

Over 8 million workers in the U.S. identify as LGBT.1 Employment discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity have been widely documented.2 Recent research has found that LGBTQ people continue to face mistreatment in the workplace,3  even after the U.S. Supreme Court held in 2020 that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.4  Experiences of workplace discrimination and harassment negatively impact employees’ health and well-being, as well as their job commitment, satisfaction, and productivity. These primary effects can, in turn, result in higher costs and other negative outcomes for employers.5 

This report examines experiences of discrimination and harassment against LGBTQ employees using a survey of 1,902 LGBTQ adults in the workforce conducted in the summer of 2023. It is based on a similar study published by the Williams Institute in 2021.6  This report examines the lifetime, five-year, and past-year workplace experiences of LGBTQ employees. It compares the experiences of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) employees to those of cisgender LGBQ employees, LGBTQ employees of color to those of White LGBTQ employees, and LGBTQ employees who are out to at least someone in the workplace compared to those who are out to no one.

Our analysis indicates that employment discrimination against LGBTQ people continues to be persistent and widespread. Almost half (47%) of LGBTQ employees reported experiencing discrimination or harassment at work (including being fired, not hired, not promoted, or being verbally, physically, or sexually harassed) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity during their lifetime. Notably, across all six primary measures of lifetime experiences of discrimination and harassment, TNB employees reported higher rates than cisgender employees, people of color reported higher rates than White employees, and those who were out reported higher rates than those who were out to no one in the workplace.

This discrimination and harassment are ongoing: 17% of LGBTQ employees reported that they experienced discrimination or harassment within the past year. TNB employees were more than twice as likely as cisgender LGBQ employees to report experiencing discrimination (22% vs. 9%) or harassment (26% vs. 10%) in the past year. LGBTQ employees of color were also approximately twice as likely to experience discrimination (15% vs 7%) and harassment (16% vs. 9%) in the past year compared to White LGBTQ employees.

Many employees also reported engaging in behaviors to avoid discrimination and harassment, including hiding their LGBTQ identity and changing their physical appearance. Nearly half (46%) of LGBTQ employees said that they are not open about being LGBTQ to their current supervisor, and one-fifth (21%) are not out to any of their coworkers. LGBTQ employees who were out to at least a few coworkers and/or their supervisor were three times more likely to report experiencing discrimination (39% vs. 12%) and more than twice as likely to report harassment (42% vs. 17%) than those who were not out to anyone at work. LGBTQ employees who were out to at least someone in the workplace were four times more likely to have experienced discrimination in the past year (12% vs 3%).

More than half of LGBTQ employees (58%) reported engaging in covering behaviors at their current job to avoid harassment or discrimination related to sexual orientation or gender identity. Some employees even left their jobs or considered leaving because of unfair treatment. One-third (33%) reported that they had left a job at some point in their lives because of how their employer treated them based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Key Findings

• Lifetime Experiences: One-third of LGBTQ employees (34%) reported experiencing at least one form of employment discrimination (including being fired, not hired, or not promoted), and 37% of LGBTQ employees reported experiencing at least one form of harassment at work due to their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
  • Discrimination: About one in five LGBTQ employees reported being fired (21%), not hired (23%), and/or not promoted (22%) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity at some point in their lives.
    • More than half of TNB employees (55%) reported experiencing discrimination compared to 31% of cisgender LGBQ employees.
    • LGBTQ employees of color (42%) were more likely to report experiencing discrimination than White employees (27%).
  • Harassment: Thirty percent of LGBTQ employees reported experiencing verbal harassment at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. One in five (22%) LGBTQ employees reported sexual harassment, and one in six (16%) reported physical harassment at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity
    • More than half of TNB employees (57%) reported at least one form of harassment compared to about one-third of cisgender LGBQ employees (35%).
  • Unfair Treatment: About one-third of LGBTQ employees (35%) reported being treated unfairly at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. More than half of TNB employees (55%) reported being treated unfairly compared to one-third of cisgender employees (33%).
• Recent Experiences: LGBTQ people continue to experience workplace discrimination and harassment, even after the U.S. Supreme Court extended LGBTQ protections from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination nationwide in Bostock v. Clayton County. Twenty-two percent of LGBTQ employees said they had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity within the past five years; an additional 11% said they had these experiences over five years ago. Similarly, 24% of LGBTQ employees experienced harassment within the past five years; an additional 14% said they had these experiences over five years ago.
  • Eleven percent of LGBTQ employees said they experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity within the past year, and 12% experienced harassment within the past year.
  • TNB employees and LGBTQ employees of color were more likely to experience recent discrimination and harassment than cisgender LGBQ employees and White LGBTQ employees. TNB employees were more than twice as likely as cisgender LGBQ employees to report experiencing discrimination (22% vs. 9%) or harassment (26% vs. 10%) in the past year. Similarly, LGBTQ employees of color were more likely to experience discrimination (15% vs 7%) and harassment (16% vs. 9%) in the past year compared to White LGBTQ employees.
• Workplace Culture: Almost three-quarters (72%) of LGBTQ employees reported that they heard negative comments, slurs, or jokes about LGBTQ people at work at some point in their lives.
  • More than half of LGBTQ employees (57%) reported hearing negative comments at work within the past five years; over one-third (36%) reported hearing negative comments within the past year.
• Experiences at Current Job: About one-quarter of LGBTQ employees (24%) reported one or more adverse workplace experiences related to their sexual orientation or gender identity at their current job. These experiences included being verbally harassed, physically harassed, sexually harassed, being denied a promotion or other opportunities, or being treated unfairly at work based on their LGBTQ status.
  • Both TNB employees (32%) and LGBTQ employees of color (29% vs. 20%) were more likely to report one or more adverse workplace experiences related to their sexual orientation or gender identity at their current job compared to cisgender LGBQ employees (23%) and White LGBTQ employees (20%).
• Out at Work: Many LGBTQ people avoid discrimination and harassment in the workplace by not being out to their supervisors and coworkers. Nearly half (46%) of LGBTQ employees said that they are not open about being LGBTQ to their current supervisor, and one-fifth (21%) are not out to any of their coworkers.
  • LGBTQ employees who were out to at least a few coworkers and/or their supervisor were three times as likely to report experiencing discrimination (39% vs. 12%) and more than twice as likely to report harassment (42% vs. 17%) because of their sexual orientation or gender identity as LGBTQ employees who were not out to anyone at work.
  • LGBTQ employees who were out to at least some coworkers and/or their supervisor were four times more likely to have experienced discrimination in the past year than employees who were not out (12% vs 3%).
• Covering: More than half of LGBTQ employees (58%) reported engaging in “covering” behaviors in order to avoid harassment or discrimination at work, including changing their physical appearance; changing when, where, or how frequently they used the bathroom; and avoiding talking about their families or social lives at work. TNB employees were significantly more likely to engage in covering behaviors than cisgender LGBQ employees.
  • TNB employees were twice as likely as cisgender LGBQ employees to report changing their voice or mannerisms (40% vs. 20%); their physical appearance (36% vs. 17%); how they dress at work (36% vs. 17%); and where, when, or how frequently they used a bathroom (27% vs 10%, respectively).
• Retention: One-third (33%) of LGBTQ employees reported that they had left a job at some point in their lives because of how they were treated by their employer based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. In the past year, 6% reported leaving a job due to personal treatment. Due to the workplace environment at their current job, 15% of LGBTQ employees have considered leaving.
  • TNB employees were four times as likely to report that they left a job (20% vs. 5%) within the past year due to personal treatment compared to cisgender LGBQ employees. TNB employees were also more likely to report that they have considered leaving their current jobs due to an unsupportive environment for LGBTQ people compared to cisgender employees (24% vs. 13%).
  • Nine percent of LGBTQ employees of color reported having left a job in the past year due to personal treatment compared to 5% of White LGBTQ employees. LGBTQ employees of color were also more likely to have considered leaving their current jobs due to an unsupportive environment for LGBTQ people than White LGBTQ employees (18% vs. 11%).

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